How to choose and wear red lipstick

From Emma Watson at this year’s Oscars, Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle to our very own desi Bollywood queens Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, these beauties have rocked the much feared red lipstick this year. Red lipstick, an epitome of classy, sophisticated makeup suits any outfit, occasion and perks up a bad mood just like that!

The holiday season calls for some radical makeover and what better to jazz up that little black dress with a hot red lipstick!

But ladies, red lipstick worn wrong is a sin in our beauty books. Red lipstick has the possibility of making you look like The Joker from Batman to say the least.

Fret not! Here are a few tips to flaunt that sizzling red lipstick with style and make heads turn at every party you go to!

Prep your lips before wearing bright or dark colors
Applying lipstick over dried, chapped lips accentuates fine lip lines. To avoid this, use a lip scrub (sugar and butter would do the trick!) to exfoliate and apply a lip balm. Do the rest of your makeup and apply your red lipstick in the end. That gives the lip balm time to moisturize your lips. Remove the excess lip balm before applying red lipstick to prevent uneven application.

When wearing any red lip color, keep the rest of your makeup minimal
Be it an orange based red or a deep maroon red, ensure the rest of your makeup is minimal. Wear a neutral color eye shadow or just a black winged liner with a bold red lipstick. While choosing a color like red it would be wise to keep that as a focus.

Highlighting your features is a must!
Using a highlighter on your cheekbones, brow bone, the bridge of your nose and cupid’s bow not only gives your skin a luminous glow but it defines your bone structure as well. This works well with minimal makeup where the skin looks radiant and healthy from within and the red lips take the center stage.

Perfect your base makeup
Wearing a flawless base makeup is no easy task and it can definitely make or break your look. Choosing a wrong foundation, applying multiple layers of foundations, wearing cakey makeup are deal breakers! The rule of thumb here is to go minimal. The more foundation you keep layering, the more your skin looks aged and tacky. Apply a primer (this helps fill in lines, pores and wrinkles and helps better application of the foundation), take a light to medium coverage foundation or a BB cream and apply a thin layer of it using your fingers or a brush on your face. If you find that there are a certain areas that require more coverage like dark under eye circles or pimples use a concealer on those areas only. This not only lets your skin breathe but also forms the perfect base for your makeup look.

Prevent your red lip color from bleeding
Picture this. You are at a party wearing a gorgeous outfit and flawless makeup and strike up a conversation with a cute guy. You open your mouth to laugh for a joke he cracks, he walks away and you are clueless as to why he did that till someone tells you that you have red lipstick on your teeth. Not a pleasant sight.

Alternatively apply a red lipstick, take a tissue and blot your lips and reapply. A foolproof idea is to keep a tissue paper between your lips after applying lipstick and pressing your lips together. This removes the excess lipstick from your lips. Apply translucent setting powder on top to make it smudge proof.

You can wear a red lip liner instead of a lipstick for a matte effect. If you want to use a gloss, make sure you use a transfer-proof thick gloss and not the runny ones.

Girls with a fair complexion should first define their lips with a dark red or maroon lip pencil and then fill in the lips with a matte blood red or rouge red lipstick.

If your lips are thick, avoid defining it with a lip liner. Instead choose a matte lip stain. Avoid using a lip gloss. This would prevent from thick lips from looking bigger because it will make your lips look bigger. Take a cue from Priyanka Chopra.

If you have thin lips, define your lips first with a lip liner and then apply the red lipstick and finish off with a lip gloss for a glossy effect. You could skip the gloss if you want to opt for a matte effect. Make sure your lip liner matches the lipstick color.

Dark maroon looks good on all skin tones. Dark red lip glosses should be avoided on dusky skin tones. Girls with dusky skin tone can use a dark maroon as a lip stain. Take a little lipstick on your finger and dab and smudge evenly on your lips for the lip stain effect.

So what are you waiting for? Pull out the red lipsticks from your closet and make them your BFFs this New Year! Welcome 2015 with your own unique style statement!